Noninvasive Fetal Electrocardiography Part I: Pan-Tompkins' Algorithm Adaptation to Fetal R-peak Identification

Indirect fetal electrocardiography is preferable to direct fetal electrocardiography because of being noninvasive and is applicable also during the end of pregnancy, besides labor. Still, the former is strongly affected by noise so that even R-peak detection (which is essential for fetal heart-rate evaluations and subsequent processing procedures) is challenging. Some fetal studies have applied the Pan-Tompkins’ algorithm that, however, was originally designed for adult applications. Thus, this work evaluated the Pan-Tompkins’ algorithm suitability for fetal applications, and proposed fetal adjustments and optimizations to improve it